"Hi T&P. Tom CULTican was attempting to put the abhorant behavior of the SGI [in sending out spies to the temple] in a more favorable light. Like all good sincere SGI members, he was defending the indefensible." - Nichijew
Oh, like YOU'd know. You don't know him, do you? And I *looked* up your source - it sounded like playful banter. But it CAN'T be playful banter, can it? No, it MUST be deadly serious EEEVIL!!! And that's why you have to insult and malign him, right? Changing his last name from "Ultican" to "CULTican" - he DESERVES to be treated badly, doesn't he? Because he made not one, but TWO playful comments? Inexcusable!!!
If anyone wants to see the thread and the various contributions - it's from the year 2000, so almost 13 years ago - it's here: [
tinyurl.com]
And here's the whole post:
Did they come in black helicopters and wear blue helmets? Kurt, I assume a
lot of what you say has some basis in fact, but I think you are being as
parinoid as some group of young men were being stupid. I think some or these
so called spies were probably people who were curious to see if you guys are
as weird as I said you were. - Tom UHmmm...anyone else detecting...oh, I dunno...A SENSE OF HUMOR, perhaps?? Really now.
Here, from 1999, is an example of Tom Ultican's dry humor - his reference to Faulkner: [
groups.google.com] Don't look, Nichijew! I'm sure it's just *dripping* with EEEEEVIL!! Trying to infect you like some vile tentacle beast!!!
You know, back when I was in Soka Spirit, I thought about attending a temple ceremony or whatever, just to see what they did there. Because I didn't buy what I was being fed about them, and I thought that the only way I could know for sure would be to go see for myself. In the end, I never made it - too far, small children, etc. - but that would have made ME a "spy", right?
When I did their gongyo with the Theravada Buddhists at the Deer Park Monastery in, what, 2008?, I was a "spy" then, too - right? Interestingly, for all the ick Nichiren had to say about every other Buddhism, when I did a few minutes of the Theravada Buddhists' gongyo with them, I came away quite impressed, and with a newfound respect for their Buddhism! Funny, huh? What if the "spies" ended up sympathetic to the temple movement from seeing for themselves? Le horreur! Oh, wait - that could NEVER happen, right?
"No exception. Feeling that one is an exception is the world of Anger. You were as bad as the rest of us. Now you are good. You are taking your life back and contributing to a noble cause, revealing the dark side of the SGI cult." - Nichijew
Oh barf. Issues, dude. You has them. False dichotomy - look it up. Also "nonduality" - it's a Buddhist concept. Even within the Nichiren schools. Here, since you were lamenting the demise of FraughtWithPeril, from FraughtWithPeril:
I also see some Bodhisattvas
Who attained the following truth:
“The nature of things is not dual.
It is [formless] like the sky.”
(The Lotus Sutra p.11)
Buddhism teaches that all things exist through dynamic mutual participation; in other words, all things are involved in one another. All phenomena, which we usually think of as separate or distinct, are actually intimately related to, or even identical with, one another. These teachings are the natural implications of the basic Buddhist principles of interdependence and consciousness that are the subject of the previous chapters. The non-dualistic world view of Buddhism is very different from the dualistic religious, philosophical and even scientific world views that are so prevalent in modern culture.
Let’s begin our exploration into the non-dualistic world view of Buddhism with the non-duality of body and mind. In Nichiren Buddhism, we use the phrase shiki shin funi to express this. Shiki means “body” or “form.” Shin means “mind” or “heart.” Funi means “non-dual.” This simple phrase, shiki shin funi, encapsulates a whole different attitude towards the relationship between mind and body than the typical assumption characterized by Western philosophy. In that view, the body and mind are separate entities that have somehow been fixed together.
Buddhist non-duality does not just stop with the body and mind, however. The teaching of dependent origination also implies the non-duality of life and its environment. The Nichiren Buddhist term for this is esho funi.
In the West, our attitude towards the world around us has been very dualistic and destructive. [fraughtwithperil.com]Indeed. So, no, no "switch" has flipped within me, changing me from "evil" to "good." I'm still just me.
Sorry, I'm simply not able to get that worked up over it. You sound as vitriolic and extreme as the SGI members about the Temple issue. Calm down. There is no "King Devil of the Sixth Heaven" that we must go to war with. But if you enjoy getting all armored up and galloping around, then by all means!
"They created what amounts to a news blackout. They went on stealth mode." - Nichijew
So they stifled themselves, in other words. Self-imposed isolation. That's a GOOD thing, last I checked! The less a group participates in society, the more it distances itself and restricts how its members may interact with others, the more it reveals its cult-ness and the easier it makes it for the members to see it. That's "win", in other words. They've lowered their profile, which means fewer people will be aware of them, which results in less successful proselytizing, fewer converts, and lower collections.
Sorry, I've never done "hysterical" and I don't plan on starting now. You go ahead without me. Now I'm *really* done. Hmmm...where are the complaints about your wall-o-texting the board and how RUDE that is?? Oh, right, s/he left... *eye roll* And those hysterics were just for ME, after all.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2013 04:09AM by TaitenAndProud.